So says Nancy Madore, author of Bedtime Stories for Women, a collection of erotica written for today's woman and based on Grimm's and other fairy tales. These are stories written to arouse women and let them fantasize about sex in a way that works for them. Her stories contain characters with whom women can identify, and Ms. Madore spins yarns with plots that allow the reader to picture herself in the roles of some of these heroines.

Some may read these stories and think the women are too passive, too submissive, or too much at the mercy of the men and their whims. But for many women, these stories are what some of their truest and deepest fantasies are all about. After reading and then re-reading a few of the stories, I started seeing a strength in some of the female characters that wasn't apparent at first glance. Ms. Madore leaves out the profanity and vulgarity and weaves in romance and passion. These are stories for single women as well as married, and each one is short and sexy, just right for a little bedtime (but not sleepy time!) reading.

For me there was almost a guilty pleasure in reading these adult fairy tales, sort of like when I found out that Judy Blume wrote novels like Wifey, and not just books for young girls. These stories are recognizable, and yet fresh, spicy and new. Snow White does meet seven men - but her experiences with them are quite unlike those with the seven dwarves with whom we are all very familiar! There are tales with secret identities, role-playing, women together, threesomes (and more!), oral sex - just about everything relating to the sexual experience can be found somewhere in these tales.

This is erotica, to be sure, but it is a relatively tame introduction to the genre, and if you've never read any overtly sexual stories, this may be just the collection for you. There's something deliciously naughty about reading grown-up fairy tales!